And a Cherry Blossom in a Pear Tree
by Scribbler
Summary: In the future, Yuugi has a lot of bad dreams, but waking up makes things all better. Anzu/Yuugi. Set in the Cherry Blossom universe.


**Disclaimer: **Festively not mine.

**A/N: **This was written for cypsiman2 as his Secret Santa fic and is set in the future, as part of a series of fanfics I call Cherry-Blossom-verse. This one is understandable without prior knowledge, as it's set pretty early in the timeline, but I've included a reading list of the other fics in the series as well. Warning for unashamed cuteness!

Reading Order for Cherry Blossom Fics:

_Stone Tablets and Cherry Blossoms_

_And a Cherry Blossom in a Pear Tree_

_The Cherry Blossom Monologues_

_Cherry Blossom Hearts_

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><p><em><strong>And a Cherry Blossom in a Pear Tree<strong>_

© Scribbler, December 2011

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><p>Anzu cracked one eye open to see her husband sitting up in bed. She moved only slightly, but he heard and turned. He had switched on the bedside light so she could see his face was pale and drawn.<p>

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied.

"Liar." She sat up and rested her hand on his nearest shoulder. He was trembling. She frowned and leaned down, tilting her neck so she was looking up into his face. "Was it another nightmare?"

He refused to meet her eye, which told her all she needed.

"Oh, Yuugi."

A tiny smile touched the corner of his mouth. "It seems so ridiculous when the lights are on."

"Not really." She swapped one hand for the other and wrapped her first arm around him from behind in a half-hug. "I'm quite touched, actually."

"You're touched that I act like a child when I get bad dreams?"

"From what you've told me, 'bad dreams' is putting it lightly. Besides, they may be horrible, but on the other hand they also show how much you care." Since before they were married, she had known about his nightmares. Over the years they had grown more infrequent, but despite everything he still had them: crushing visions of his life, his family, his friends and everything he cared about being taken away from him. A childhood of insecurity and abandonment had left their marks on his subconscious.

Yuugi laid his hand over hers and squeezed. "Queen of the Bright Side," he murmured, using his pet name for her.

"King of Games," she replied softly. "My Prince Charming."

"Eew!"

They looked up at the same time to see a small figure silhouetted in the doorway.

"Gross!"

Anzu briefly laced her fingers with Yuugi's before flipping back the covers and clambering out of bed. "You should be in bed, young lady."

"I had a bad dream." The little girl's voice changed from disgusted to disquieted in record time. She toed the carpet and dipped her head. "Can I come sleep with you guys?"

"Sakura," Anzu chided. "Big girls sleep in their own bed."

"Pleeeeease?"

"Let her get in," said Yuugi. "What could it hurt?"

Anzu looked at him and then back at their daughter. Sakura's shock of brown hair was even more dishevelled than after she had brushed it. She looked up at her mother with eyes that looked like those of a scared little boy Anzu remembered in a years-ago playground, save for their blue irises. Anzu sighed. She took Sakura's hand, only for her daughter to yank it away and dash out the door.

"Wait a second!"

"Sakura –"

"Just a second, honest!" Sakura retuned a few moments later clutching a tiny sprig of something green. "Here," she said, pressing it into Anzu's palm.

"What's this?"

"So you guys can be gross and get all kissy-face and it'll be allowed. It's all right, during recess Ryu told me this stuff makes it okay. You have to stick it above your bed, though. She said you have to be under it for it to count, otherwise you're still all gross and you'll give each other cooties. I think they're like cold germs or something. Everybody at school is afraid of catching them."

Anzu looked at the gift. It was plastic and stuck all over with grains of sand. "Mistletoe?"

"Uh-huh. I found it in the sandbox. It was buried, but I cleaned it off in the bathroom after Ryu told me what it was." Ryu Jounouchi, font of all knowledge and claimant of her daughter's six-year-old heart.

Anzu crouched down to look Sakura in the eye. "Honey, this only counts at Christmas."

"Says who?"

"Yeah, Anzu," Yuugi smiled. "Says who?"

Anzu looked at him, at the mistletoe, at Sakura, and then back at him. She smiled slowly and went to unthread a shoelace from one of the many shoes in her closet. She stood on the mattress to reach the light fitting on the ceiling and strained to tie on one end of the shoelace. The other end she knotted around the stem of the plastic mistletoe. That done, she flopped back into bed and allowed Sakura to snuggle down the middle between them until only the crown of her head showed.

"Who indeed," Anzu murmured, leaning across to kiss her husband. "We're not going anywhere, Yuugi. I'm afraid you're stuck with us."

"I can live with that," he replied contentedly.

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><p><strong><em>Fin.<em>**


End file.
